Historical Description

Andy Warhol’s Mobil (1985) is a representation of the Mobil gas station sign that would have been seen throughout the United States. A slice of Americana, the image consists of a shield decorated with the profile of a pegasus leaping over the company’s name, “Mobilgas.” Warhol’s Mobil stays somewhat true to the sign’s original color, the pegasus and the wording retaining their primary red and blue hues, though the white sign has been given a light blue tinge. The addition of bright yellow linework to delineate the pegasus and outline the wording is especially striking, giving Warhol’s Mobil a classic Pop Art feel. Warhol’s Mobil (1985) is an arresting work of art from Andy Warhol’s Ads portfolio, one of the most renowned of his series.

Andy Warhol’s Ads portfolio, made in 1985, is a stunning exemplar of the core tenets of Warhol’s art practice. Drawing on his initial start as a commercial illustrator, the focus on commonplace advertisements encapsulates his interest in commercialism and consumerism. The Ads portfolio pulls from globally recognized brands associated with a wide range of products, from Volkswagen cars to Paramount movies, and elevates these elements of ordinary life to the status of high art. These advertisements were powerful symbols, and Andy Warhol’s Ads portfolio is a peek into the media landscape of the 1980s. By isolating the quotidian images in these advertisements from their commercial context, Warhol creates a space to appreciate the aesthetics of the everyday. Andy Warhol’s Ads portfolio is quintessential to the history of art, and is a gorgeous collection of some of his most sought after works.

Created in 1985, Andy Warhol’s Mobil is a color screenprint on Lenox Museum Board and is signed in pencil in the lower left. It is a unique work of an edition of 190, 50 AP, 30 PP, 5 EP, 10 HC, and 10 numbered in Roman numerals, published by Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, Inc., New York and printed by Rupert Jasen Smith, New York.

Catalogue Raisonné & COA:

Andy Warhol, Mobil, from Ads (1985), is fully documented and referenced in the below catalogue raisonnés and texts (copies will be enclosed as added documentation with the invoices that will accompany the sale of the work).